Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-10-07
Lime Ridge. Que.
Written for the HERALD.

NiH' EDl'ok'--l uOhJ suppose
many of your Island Pond readers
know anything about this village,
but we, the inhabitants, consider it
quite busy place. 1t is about 25
miles from SheiLrccke en- the Que
bee Central Railway and IA miles
from the Village of MarJleton and
3 miles from Dudswell Centre.
There is spur Of railroad, the PRO
perty of the DudsN ell Lime and
Marble Co., running two and a half
miles TO the Quebec Central Ry. at
Marbleton Station.
Lime Ridge is well known as the
place whore the Dudswell lime is
manufactured. There are six kIlns,
two of them being built after the
patent of a gentleman from the
States, one of them is round, with
the upper portion entirely of iron,
putting one in mind of an iron fort.
The other kilns are built of stone.
the walls being feet thick, 90 feet
square at the base and Is fit. at the
top, the heighth is 80 it,, they are
lined with fire brick, forming a
cubular of some #. in diameter.
Between the fire brick and stone
wall there is a span of some eighteen
inches, which is packed with ashes,
to allow for the expansion of the
lime as it is being burnt, and also to
keep the heat away from the stone
walls, which are built from the lime
stone. There are furnaces on three
sides and the draw hole is on the
other, the draw is built at an angle
of about As and the lime slides
through it and is then dumped.
These kilns consume from 5 to 6
cords of wood each day Of "a hours.
The fires are kept up night and day
for several months at a time. The
capacity of each kiln is about $50
bushels of lime per day so that the
output would be 1900 bushels. For
! any one who has never seen lime
manufactured it is well worth their
while to visit these works. The
company have every facility for
manufacturing lime very cheaply,
with all the modern improvements.
There is not, probably, in America
such another place for getting the
rock into the kilns so cheaply, the
face of TIE quarry rising 100 feet
above the level.
The Dpdswell Lime and Marble
Co., whose head Offices are at Shcr-
brooke, have built up Lime Ridge;
&
IL years ago its was all woods, now,
we have six lime kilns,a large steam
saw mill, store, cooper's shop, black
smiths shop and dwelling houses,
containing some 800 inhabitants of
a varied nationality, English, Scotch,
Irish, and English and French Cam
adams. The saw mill has during
the past year sawed all the materia!
used for casks, which the company
manufacture aud in them ship large
quantities of lime to the States, also
all the lumber used for building
new tenements, &c.
The manager Of the company here,
Mr.. James Ii. Barker, formerly of
Norton Mills, who has been with
them since the commencement of the
work, some eleven years ago, when
they started in a very small way,
would be happy at any time to show
over the place any Island Pondtes
or others who might visit the Ridge.
The works employ from 100 to $50
men and in the winter the company
get in from 5000 to 10000 cords Of
wood and employ from Is to 100
teams hauling. What with cord
wood and lumber, business was
booming here last winter. On an
average about 125 cars of lime are
shipped per month, and the buds
well No. l lime, manufactured at
Lime Ridge is we'll and favorably
known in the States. The large
new store, built two years ago, does
a good business, although there are
some five stores in Marbleton and Q
at Bishops Crossing. The company,
who are working under charter Of
the Quebec Government with paid
up capital of 100000, has also a
marble quarry about two miles from
their lime works, and are getting
out splendid specimens of marble,
which are being sawn in the steam
mill, specimens of which might have
been seen at the show in Sherbrooke.
They are also being shown in Europe
and the States.